1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for and a method of converting location information, which is suitable for use in recording an image picked up by a camera and information indicating a pickup location thereof into a recording medium, and to a computer program product that is used therefor, such as a computer readable storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is useful to record information regarding the locations where the images are taken (including location information such as latitude and longitude, a place name, such as an address, a name of a building, a location name, such as a sightseeing place, and the like), together with the images taken by a camera, when appreciating the images in various ways thereafter, and thus there are proposed various ideas for recording information regarding the locations at a time when taking the images.
For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-110117, there is disclosed the invention in which a database for location information and selection means for selecting from the database location information with which an image is recorded, are provided in a camera, and desired location information is selected and operated by a photographer at a time of picture-taking, so as to record the location information on a photo film together with the image. Herein the location information is a so-called place name, and it is recorded on the photo film as character information.
Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-70735, there is disclosed a camera in which two detecting means, such as detecting means in a positioning system by GPS (Global Positioning System), and detecting means of information from a system that provides location information that is characterized in a specific location or a region in an FM wave, are provided with the camera, and either one of the detected results of the two detecting means is recorded in a memory card along with an image taken in accordance with a predetermined order of priority.
Moreover, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-36217, there is disclosed detecting means of a positioning system by GPS to a camera, and a camera for recording detected location information along with an image on a photo film by encoding the detected location information, and an apparatus for printing converted information on a photographic print, or for displaying it on a TV monitor, as reproducing location information that is encoded from the photo film after having been taken, and then converting it to information which is understandable by human beings, such as a place name, and the like by collating it with a database.
Information for a location associated with an image (hereinafter, it is referred to as location information) could be utilized in a variety of ways in accordance with an appreciation aspect of an image. For example, it is considered that a picture-taking location may be clarified by printing it with an image on a photographic print, or by displaying it with an image on a TV or a CRT monitor. In this case, it is preferable that, as the information for the location, the place name, the location name and the like are displayed as character information.
In academic usage and the like, it is preferable that the latitude and longitude information based on the detected results of the positioning means using the GPS are recorded as they are, and are displayed along with the image.
Further, in a usage that facilitates image retrieval for each of the picture-taking locations by constructing an image database within a computer, it is convenient to provide a code list in which predetermined codes are provided for each of the locations, and to record the location information with these codes. This is because it is possible to make a memory capacity for recording or for storing to be relatively small with the codes, and it is possible to construct a system having a compatibility among the various kinds of application software, by unifying the code lists.
Also, obviously, it is preferable that the location information can be obtained and recorded easily, without performing an extra operation at a time when picture-taking.
In the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-110117, it is inconvenient to do the operation of selecting the desired location information from the database for the location information at a time of picture-taking, and also the database for the location information is required to have a very large memory capacity considering one camera is to be used all over the world, and thus it has a disadvantage as to not be practical to install it in a camera. Also, it has a disadvantage as to enable one to manipulate only the character information for the place name or the location name, and thus it is not suitable for a wide range of usage.
Further, in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-70735, information for a location is recorded automatically at a time of a picture-taking, but the information to be recorded along with the image is only one kind that is determined by a predetermined order of priority, and thus it has a disadvantage as to be not suitable for a wide range of usage.
Moreover, in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-36217, encoded location information that is recorded automatically by a camera is converted by a second apparatus having a database of location information to information which is understandable by a human being, and then is displayed and printed along with an image, but it enables one to manipulate only character information, such as a place name, a location name and the like, and as a result it has a disadvantage as not enabling one to deal with a wide range of usage. Further, the location information recorded on a photo film along with an image is only encoded information, and thus it has a disadvantage of not enabling one to transmit character information, such as the place name, the location name and the like, that are obtained from the database to a third apparatus, and of not enabling one to reuse them.